How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World is the capstone in a, for now, trilogy of animated dragon films. Now that humans and dragons live peacefully side-by-side and conquered an evil dragon hunter in the previous film, another evil dragon trapper emerges. This spurs themes of the idea of species superiority, relying too much on dragons and not enough on yourself, and the timeless quagmire of what it means to practice and succeed in the art and science of strategic leadership. The Hidden World employs the crutch of a recycled story to carry the series toward a satisfying ending, cementing its legacy as a noted animated franchise, rather than a ground-breaking, genre-defining film set.

Hiccup (Jay Baruchel, RoboCop) and his idiosyncratic crew of dragon freedom fighters harness their success at freeing captured dragons from the previous film and continue to bedevil trappers and traders who continue the practice of dragon slavery. Their home village, Berk, is beginning to overpopulate as all the free dragons run amok and generate miscellaneous chaos upon the Viking village due to their enormity and graceless movements. Hiccup made his far-fetched dream into a reality – a Viking-dragon utopia. However, when one dreams of an ideal society, they usually gloss over the daily logistics of messy meal times, sanitation, and zoning for practical land use. Gobber (Craig Ferguson), a sort of consigliere to Hiccup as he finds his place as the clan’s new chief, opines, “You’re supposed to be the generation who leads us into the future. Start worrying about problems here rather than out there.”

The more dragons they free and bring back to Berk, the more calls for new regulations. Yet, a society’s inner turmoil has a way of shifting to the back-burner when an external force threatens their well-being. The dragon trappers, tired of their assets being emancipated from their cages, form a cartel and hire the infamous Grimmel the Grizzly (F. Murray Abraham, Isle of Dogs), the land’s most fearsome dragon hunter. Grimmel believes the only good dragon is a dead dragon. Hiccup is Grimmel’s antithesis with his dangerous and progressive ideas of peaceful human/dragon tolerance and coexistence. Grimmel hunted Night Furies to the point of extinction, and is more than keen to accept the job to tear apart Berk and its dragon-accepting society so he may enjoy the pleasure of trophy hunting Toothless, Hiccup’s Night Fury and Berk’s alpha dragon.

Grimmel follows the dogma of a species ladder – humans are superior to dragons; therefore, lord dominion over them. He believes one cannot empathize with a dragon since it cannot match humans in intellectual acuity. Being a master of the hunt, Grimmel acts to separate Toothless from his pack and the easiest way to do that is to appeal to his natural instincts – Grimmel releases a female Night Fury to grab Toothless’s attention. Introducing a feminine variable will not only divert the dragon’s attention away from Berk, but may also drive a wedge between him and his human, Hiccup. Hiccup recognizes the unique nature of what they now call the Light Fury, and in some half-hearted attempts for laughs, tries to teach Toothless to strut and preen for the lady.

With Toothless acting the love-struck adolescent and flying off into the clouds, Hiccup and company realize there may come a day dragons are no longer here to ease the transport and heavy lift burdens, and most importantly, will not be around to fight their battles for them. This theme is far less examined than the others, but used as a motivational device to catalyze a can-do attitude. In his Scottish accent that most of the older generation has yet none of their children do, Gobber once again warns, “Perhaps you all rely a little too much on your dragons and not enough on one another.” In her useless role as Hiccup’s mother, Valka (Cate Blanchett, Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle), touches on similar issues with Hiccup’s preference for solitary actions rather than strength in numbers and teamwork. Reminders to writer/director Dean DeBlois’s previous two Dragon films are all to evident, Berk and company work better and get the job done when they choose to pool their talents, rather than shoulder the work alone.

The Hidden World, referencing a mythical place where dragons come from, may be an answer to Hiccup’s search for a place to protect dragons from those who would do them harm. Mythical lands in animated films usually turn out to be real. And all credit to DreamWorks animation for making this installment the best looking of the franchise. As they get to know one another, Toothless and the Light Fury soar, swoop, and explore as the audience enjoys some down time to soak in the scenery. The colors and detail of The Hidden World will impressive both young ones and their parents as the opportunity to experience this leading-edge digital animation makes up for the story’s limitations and conventional arc. The plot is stock, but its visuals feel refreshed and up to the challenge to carry the film. In a world striving toward peace between human and dragon, if its story kept pace with the animation, How to Train Your Dragon could have been more than competitive on top animated lists, but it will remain an also ran because it looks better than the material it supports.